Guide to buying an ELECTRIC BIKE
1. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO RIDE YOUR ELECTRIC BIKE?
AROUND THE CITY OR FROM WORK - URBAN COMMUTING
You need a Legendebike – “Monza” or “Siena” Electric Bike
- Commuter bikes combine speed, efficiency and comfort
- A great alternative to travel by car or public transport - plus no more getting stuck in traffic!
- Incredibly cost effective form of transportation, costing less than a typical years parking in major cities
- A commuter e-bike makes riding to work every day a pleasure
- Folding electric bikes are also available for easy transport and storage - great for the bus, boat, caravan or marina and boat
ALONG THE CYCLE PATHS - WEEKEND CRUISING
You need a Legendebike “Milano” Electric Bike
- Designed for laid back cruising in comfort and style!
- Perfect for the beach or making a statement
- Generally one size fits all
- Electric motor makes the ride even easier
- Available in a range of stylish and colours
ON THE TRAILS - MOUNTAIN BIKING WITH EASE
You need a Legendebike “ETNA” Electric Mountain Bike
- Designed for off-road use but can be great for the city too
- Extremely strong and durable folding mountain bike for the station wagon or small hatchback
- The SUV of Electric bikes.
- Just like a traditional mountain bike, with the addition of a motor up to 100km on a single charge
- Make going uphill easier, enables you to ride further and have even more fun going down
- Front and rear suspension make the ride more comfortable too coupled with very effective and strong disc brakes
2. CHOOSING THE CORRECT BRAND
Choosing a reputable brand gives you some assurance over quality and the availability of parts and support now and in the future. Many e-bike “brands” aren’t really brands at all - they are imported by people who’ve purchased some bikes off the internet from an unknown factory in China and had a logo printed on them.
Often they have specified a couple of standard bike components with their order to claim their product is “designed in New Zealand” for our unique conditions”. You are spending a reasonable amount of valuable cash when buying and Electric bike so choose carefully.
There are many New Zealanders who’ve purchased a cheap “Alibaba” e-bike that is no longer working. Usually we can’t help because the parts are specific to the bike and often the original importer is nowhere to be found.
Google the brand name – if it’s sold in other countries, has positive reviews on independent sites and the company that has been around a while, it’s probably a reputable brand rather than a “fly-by-nighter”.
Legendebikes are manufactured to the most stringent European standards; only specialise in Electric bikes and have been around for many years with a huge presence throughout Spain; Italy; France; UK and now South America, Australia and New Zealand.
3. CHOOSING THE BATTERY
The battery is the most expensive component of an Electric bike and a part more likely to fail on a cheap e-bike. The cell manufacturer is an important consideration - Panasonic and Samsung are the two biggest producers of lithium cells and generally considered the best. Legendebikes only use Panasonic in all our Electric bikes. However there are other electronics like the Battery Management System (BMS) that are also important and will be better if the bike itself is from a good brand.
4. CHOOSING THE CORRECT POWER SYSTEM
The two main options for adding power to an ebike are throttle and “pedal assist”. Some bikes have only one of these, some have both. All are street-legal in New Zealand. A throttle-only bike gives more precise control over the amount of power but requires ongoing intervention. Pedal assistance is more “automatic” – the rider selects a level of “assistance” they want, sensors detect when they are pedalling and tell the motor to help out at the desired level. Most e-bikes use a “cadence” sensor for pedal assistance which detects rotations of the pedal and sends a signal to the motor controller– these are typical on bikes with hub motors. Legendebike only use hub motors due to their more reliable technology.
Chinese-built pedal assist bikes usually also come equipped with a throttle option, useful for adding power at take-off. European-built bikes (like our Legendebikes) generally don’t come with throttles (or if they do, they will operate up to 6km/h) and will have pedal assistance which tops out at around 25 – 27km/h to comply with EU regulations - but they are generally built to a higher standard overall and much safer for cruising. 25km/h is still extremely quick and faster to stop when you must in a hurry. Australia has legislated that all Electric bikes must be to EU standards for some of these reasons.
